This invention relates to fraud protection for bill acceptors, and more particularly to an anti-string fraud device and method.
Various types of banknote or bill validators for use in automatic transaction machines, such as vending machines, are known. Typically, a consumer inserts coins and bills into such vending machines in order to purchase a product or service. Currency validators receive paper money and perform various authenticity and denomination tests, and then either accept the tendered item as valid or reject the item and return it to the consumer. When accepted as genuine currency, the bill is usually transported to a cash box where it is stored and a selected item is vended along with any change that may be due.
Thieves have been known to attempt to cheat vending machines to receive products or services without actually paying for them. For example, a thief may insert counterfeit money, or may attempt to defraud by other means such as by attaching a string-like member to a bill and then manipulating the string to retrieve the bill after it has been accepted by the bill validator. This type of fraud is commonly known as xe2x80x9cstring-fraudxe2x80x9d. Although areas containing automatic transaction machines, such as vending machines and gaming machines, are increasingly monitored by automatic video devices, the string-fraud technique can be difficult to detect during or after an occurrence because during normal operation of the machine genuine bills are returned to consumers if they cannot be validated due to wear or foreign matter. Thus, there is a need for a device to prevent string-fraud that is simple to implement and low cost.
The present invention concerns a hook array for use with a bill acceptor that includes a plurality of tree-shaped teeth. The teeth form restricted openings therebetween and in use are positioned in a currency passageway of the bill acceptor. The teeth are angled such that any string attached to a bill will be trapped within a restricted opening to prevent extraction of the bill.
The invention may include one or more of the following features. The hook array may include a baseplate connected to the teeth. The baseplate may include at least one connection point, may contain at least one cut-out portion, and may include at least one flange. One or more of the restricted openings may include sharp edges. A top portion of at least one of the teeth may be smooth to promote unimpeded travel of a bill, and an inner surface of at least one of the teeth may be abrasive to promote obstruction of travel of a bill out of a cash box. The baseplate and the teeth may be of a unitary construction.
In another implementation, a bill acceptor includes a bill validator having a bill entryway that leads to a first portion of a currency passageway, wherein the bill validator is operative to authenticate inserted bills. A currency stacker and cash box assembly is connected to the bill validator, and the stacker and cash box assembly form a second portion of a currency passageway therebetween and operate to store accepted bills in the cash box. A hook array is positioned between the cash box and the bill validator, and the hook array includes a plurality of tree-shaped teeth that include restricted openings therebetween for capturing any string attached to a bill that has been accepted and pushed into the cash box, the hook array operative to inhibit retrieval of the bill from the cash box and out of the currency entryway.
The above implementation may include one or more of the following features. The hook array includes a baseplate having at least one connection point. The baseplate may include at least one cut-out portion, and may include at least one flange. At least one of the restricted openings may include sharp edges. A top portion of at least one of the teeth may be smooth to promote unimpeded travel of a bill into the cash box. An inner surface of at least one of the teeth may be abrasive to promote obstruction of travel of a bill out of a cash box. The baseplate and the teeth may be of a unitary construction.
In another implementation, a hook array is connected to a pusher plate of a bill stacker and includes a plurality of tree-shaped teeth that form restricted openings therebetween. The teeth are angled to trap any string-like member attached to a bill within a restricted opening to prevent extraction of a bill.
A further implementation concerns a method for preventing string-fraud. The method includes fabricating a hook array to have a plurality of tree-shaped teeth that form restricted openings therebetween, attaching the hook array within a bill passageway between a bill validator and a cash box, and trapping any string-like member connected to a bill in the restricted openings.
The method may further include one or more of the following features. The hook array may be connected to the cash box. The hook array may be connected to a pusher plate of a bill stacker.
The hook array according to the invention advantageously prevents a thief from extracting an accepted bill from a cash box. Further, when a string-fraud is attempted and the machine jams, service personnel arrive and verify that a fraud has been attempted so that a surveillance tape can be checked to identify the thief for possible arrest or banishment from the establishment. Yet further, after a thief repeatedly fails to succeed in his attempts to defraud the machine, the incidence of string-fraud attempts will drop.